My Artist: Edgar Degas

Edgar Degas is an artist whose main focus was ballet dancers in their natural element. Degas was born July 19, 1834 in Paris. He died September 27, 1917. He was most known for being one of the founders of Impressionism, but claimed that he was a realist. His portraits, specifically those of the dancers which consist of about half of the paintings he has ever done, are regarded as the finest paintings in the history of art. Degas mainly focused on women models and sometimes, painted them nude. He is mostly known for his dancer paintings, however.

I decided to choose this artist because, as a dancer, I found his paintings to draw me in. I found myself studying the dancers posture, feet, turnout, and much more. To see how a dancer such as myself looks through someone else's eyes is a neat experience. I also enjoyed the detail he went into. No two paintings are similar and no two dancers are the same. Every one of his paintings are unique in their own right and i found that neat to look at.

                                                    

This picture drew my attention because it reminded me of my first day in pointe class. I was scared that I was not going to be able to do pointe as easily as all the other girls and that is what this girl looks like is happening to her.

I liked this picture because of the colors. The mixture of the blues and the greens really stuck out for me among all of Degas' other paintings. The emotion he put in the dancers really stuck out also. It is a dancer's goal durring a performance to feel the music and act it out and you can tell through this picture that these girls are doing just that.

Finally, I chose this sculpture because it is very well known. This is one of those things that you see multiple times in your lifetime, but may never know who created it. This is very unique and this dancer is represented as very proper. It stuck out to me because it was different from all the rest. 

I chose Degas because his artwork drew me in and made me look deep into it. That is what artwork is supposed to do. It is supposed to intrigue you enough so you want to dig deeper into it and the hidden meaning of it.